Blister Eradication Looking at Impact of Experimental Versus Established Regimens (BELIEVER)

Introduction Friction foot blisters are one of the most common injuries encountered by hikers and runners. In expedition length ultramarathons, blisters account for nearly 74% of medical visits. While most blisters are of minor medical significance, they can impair concentration, decrease athletic performance, and potentially become debilitating. In this study, we compared two materials for blister treatment, Elastikon and RockTape. We postulate RockTape may be non-inferior to Elastikon and could have additional benefits in cost and utility. Methods 91 participants (62 M, 29 F) were enrolled while participating in a series of self-supported international ultramarathons that took place over 6 stages in 7 days with RacingThePlanet © (RTP) between 2019 −2022. Volunteers were enrolled at the time of their first blister. They were randomly assigned to a treatment method based on their bib number and then followed through completion of the race to evaluate treatment efficacy and overall satisfaction. Results Among the Elastikon treatment group of 44 participants, 36% (n = 16) were considered a success versus 53% (n = 24) in the RockTape group of 45 participants. We did not find an association between treatment outcomes ( P value = .1076) with the difference in successful treatment lacking statistical significance. In the Elastikon group the mean time to failure was 1.32 days (sd 0.61) and in the RockTape group the mean was 1.38 days (sd 0.14); this difference in the mean failure time between the two groups was also not statistically significant ( P -value = .97). Conclusions There was no significant difference found between the two treatment outcomes. The primary hypothesis that RockTape was not inferior to Elastikon for blister treatment was confirmed. The absolute difference in treatment success was 16.9% (95% CI, −3.4% to 37.4%). Although our desired power was not reached and our result not statistically significant, the point estimate favored RockTape, with a higher observed success rate compared to Elastikon.